


More than rivals

by Wayward_Unicorn



Category: Professional Overwatch RPF
Genre: " How do I politely ask him to slam me against a wall and make out with me", "Dude" but like romantically, "I know I just called you dude but I'm trying to flirt with you", 99 Problems and I'm avoiding all of them, Aggessively jamming out to Chika Chika Dance, Chipsa: Is fuck off an emotion because I feel it in my soul, Chipsafran, Don't Like Don't Read, Don't talk to me or my 47 mood swings ever again, I bless the rains down in Africa, I wish everything was quieter and softer and less often, I'm crying my best ok, Ideas That Seemed Like Good Ones at 3AM, Je suis Bitchin', Lawyer voice: mothers and fuckers of the jury-, M/M, Mutual Pining, My biggest dream is to calm down, No offense to me but what the fuck am I doing, Passive aggressive hot chocolate making, Saying "dude" too many times, Slow Burn, Stressy & Depressy, Succesfully Avoiding Responsibilities, Top 10 Anime Battles, Wanting to be in love but also Yikes, Where's the epic background music?, Wow That Is So Wild, Yeah I'm totally fine I just need to set myself on fire, Yee : haw, Yikes, [Leans against the wall flirtatiously], [Leans more], [Leans too far and falls down]
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:29:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21769150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wayward_Unicorn/pseuds/Wayward_Unicorn
Summary: Dafran is back in OWL, playing for Atlanta Reign. The world is about to witness him play against Chipsa, the infamous streamer now playing for Philadelphia Fusion. Everyone wants to see this battle of gods - however, a tragic injury caused by one of Chipsa's fans puts Dafran on the bench for the season. His predicament has an unexpected outcome, when these two players famous for their rivalry seem to grow closer... but how close exactly?
Relationships: Dafran/ChipSa
Comments: 23
Kudos: 14





	1. A Series of Unfortunate Events

**Author's Note:**

> Whaddup! This is the first of many chapters about to come out on this ship. Don't like? Don't read. Comments and kudoses are appreciated!

The crowd was loud. They were talking, exchanging theories, predicting the outcome of the upcoming match.  
The Overwatch League tournament between the competing teams of Atlanta Reign and Philadelphia Fusion was about to begin.  
With Dafran, Atlanta's star player back in its roster, and the Fusion's brand new and infamous DPS player, Chipsa, about to step on stage and play against each other with the whole world watching was enough to set everyone on edge. They all were waiting for the players to arrive, to finally see the matchup that had been talked of for months.  
It would surely be a match that would be talked of for the rest of OWL's history. Everyone was sure of that.

****

Dafran's hands were sweaty. He'd been warming up for the past forty minutes, and they'd been going over their strategy at least three times already. They were ready.  
So why was he feeling so damn nervous? It wasn't like he was a newbie on the scene, anyway - he'd been Atlanta Reign's hero in the past season. He'd proved he wasn't washed up.  
So why was he nervous? Was it because of… him?  
Dafran knew from experience that he could beat Chipsa just fine in a matchup, and Atlanta had built their the majority of their plan to ride along Dafran's ability to counter Chipsa's hero picks with Sombra.  
 _I'm going to do fine._  
He was sort of looking forward to it, really. It was just the great big crowd out there, watching and focusing on his every move, and expecting him to pop the fuck off.  
What if he didn't?  
Dafran wiped his hands on the thin fabric of his shirt, and took a deep breath. Not long until the match would start. Not long at all.

'What a bunch of wankers', Chipsa thought as the announcers babbled away, hyping the crowd up, stirring their blood to get ready to welcome Philadelphia Fusion to the stage.  
It's not like the crowd needed any of that. They were hyped already. Chipsa was pretty certain that he'd never even seen this many people in a regular tournament before. Hell, the OWL season was only starting.  
"Please welcome, the Philadelphia Fusion!"  
Chipsa's heart jumped at the sound of it, marching out from the doorway and leading his teammates through the sea of enthusiastic fans. He couldn't help but feel the extreme hype radiating off of the screaming crowd of people, the closest ones extending their arms to get a soft high five from each member of the team. Chipsa was happy to give it to them. It was part of the deal.  
'I made it here', he thought, barely hearing the announcers. 'No matter what everyone says. I made it to the top. I'm there.'  
Sitting down in front of his assigned computer, he sighed and turned his attention to the door they'd just come out from.  
'...Atlanta Reign!'  
The team dressed in white and red walked proudly into the crowd and received a roar of cheering as they did. Hawk, Pokpo, Masaa, Dogman, Babybay and the famous star-DPS, a massive pain in Chipsa's ass, and the biggest fan-favorite in the history of Overwatch League - Dafran.  
 _Wanker_ , Chipsa thought with a smile.  
Dafran had a goofy grin on his face as he walked behind his team, happily touching the people's hands. The crowd was wild. This was Dafran's first game in the League after his initial retirement in the last season, and it was also Chipsa's OWL debut. Everyone wanted to see this one.  
But then something changed. It was something with the way the people made noise - it stopped sounding like cheers, and more like shocked screams and gasps. It all happened too fast, Chipsa didn't see what happened, but from what he could make out even the announcers seemed stunned at what was happening.  
All Chipsa could see was that the security was quickly approaching a guy who had a deathly grip on Dafran's wrist, his tall frame twisted from the obvious pain of his predicament.  
Some of the crowd members attacked the guy, tackling him to the ground, and Chipsa's heart clenched as he saw Dafran sinking to his knees, cradling his clearly injured wrist. Some of the announcers ran to the scene, along with more security.  
Was that blood?  
There was an absolute outrage amongst the crowd. People were yelling. Sideshow's voice was trying to calm the situation down a notch, explaining that there would be a delay in the start of the match.  
Chipsa closed his mouth and swallowed, blinking a few times in absolute confusion.  
Who the fuck _dared_? Who the _fuck_ dared to do something like this in an esports tournament?  
He barely registered the fact that they were being guided off the stage and back to the corridor from which they'd just walked out from. Masaa and Dogman had already disappeared with Dafran, who had been escorted out with Soe and Bren.  
Fuck he was mad.

The doors were closed behind them, and the frustrated and upset voices of the crowd were muffled to a distant mumbling.  
"What the hell just happened?" asked Boombox quitely, exchanging frightened and confused looks with Poko, who seemed equally upset.  
The Atlanta Reign players gathered around them. "That guy grabbed him by the hand", Pokpo explained with his heavy Korean accent. "And then he like, twist it. Really hard and like, fast. I heard it go pop." Everyone mumbled darkly at this.  
Chipsa was fuming. "He can't play now", he growled. "That guy just wanted to bench Dafran. If his wrist really broke there's no way he'll play for at least eight weeks."  
"I think it could be longer, it looked really bad", Babybay added. "I think his bone was like, popping out. I don't know how that guy did it."  
"This is fucking messed up", Chipsa mumbled out what everyone was thinking. He felt dizzy.  
"He was probably taken to the first aid tent", Boombox stated. "I think Masaa and Dogman went there with him. Should we go and see?"  
"I'm going", Chipsa decided and began marching down the hall. The rest followed.

****

Sure enough, the first aid tent was exactly where Dafran was. The nine players were reunited with those inside.  
Dafran was lying down on a gurney, pale as fuck, with one of the bones on his right wrist sticking out through the skin.  
"Heyyy", his voice didn't even quiver as he greeted them.  
"Yo, what the fuck", Pokpo said.  
"How you feeling, man?" Chipsa asked softly, looking at the state of his fellow streamer.  
Masaa and Dogman were sitting next to Dafran as the nurses were fussing about around him, trying to shoo the players away so they'd have room to work.  
"It doesn't really hurt if I don't move", Dafran said weakly. "I took some painkillers. I think they called an ambulance, too."  
 _What the fuck. This isn't how this day was supposed to go._  
"This fucking sucks, yo", said Poko. "I'd really like to know what that guy's motive was." He continued to mumble some French nonsense.  
Dafran swallowed, blinking sluggishly. He was trembling slightly - Chipsa could tell he was really, properly shaken up.  
"He was nuts, dude", Dafran said, keeping the tremor out of his voice. "He said something like, 'for Chipsa'."  
Chipsa felt like his heart sank down to his feet.  
That… _garbage can_ of a human being just broke Dafran's wrist so that Philly would have a better chance of beating Atlanta?  
"Oh, no", Chipsa murmured, covering his mouth and turning away. "Oh, fuck, I think I'm going to actually be sick." He felt like he was at a loss for words.

"Hey, he was crazy", Dafran offered. "It's not your fault."

Chipsa didn't reply, just looked at the sad, pale frame of Atlanta's star player.  
"It's fine, you guys play", Dafran said to his teammates, groggily focusing his gaze on them. "Erster will sub in for me. It’s okay."  
"I don't really know what's going on", Soe sighed. "I think we might delay everything until tomorrow. We'll see."  
"The ambulance is here", one of the nurses said and started rolling the gurney.  
"Hey, I can walk", Dafran tried.  
"You're only an inch away from going into shock", the nurse replied.  
"Lie down, bro", said Chipsa.  
As they took Dafran away, the Atlanta Reign head coach, Sephy showed up with a shocked and upset expression on his face.  
“Where is he?” he asked.  
“He was taken to the nearest hospital.”  
Sephy nodded, looking relieved. “Okay. The game is still going to be played, and it’s going to start in one hour. It should be plenty enough for both teams to rethink strategies. Where’s Chipsa?”  
The streamer’s eyebrows rose up. “Here, why?”  
“The police want to ask you a few questions. Apparently the man who attacked Dafran was a fan of yours”, Sephy replied.  
“You think I had something to do with it?” Chipsa scoffed. It was ridiculous and it made him feel sick.  
“No one thinks that”, Sephy calmed him down. “They just want a few words, that’s all. They’re just going to ask if you knew the guy.”  
Chipsa sighed, nodding. Sephy gestured towards the tent’s exit, and Chipsa stepped outside. Two policemen were waiting a few feet away from the tent.  
“Philip Graham?” they asked, and Chipsa confirmed.  
“I didn’t know him”, he said immediately. “Never seen him before in my life. If he really is a fan he’s probably been on my stream. Ask for his username on Twitch. Maybe I’ll recognise it. I can ask my mods, too.”  
The cops nodded.  
“Mods?”  
“Moderators. They help me run my stream”, Chipsa murmured.  
“Right. And, what is your relationship with Mr. Francesca?”  
Chipsa considered his reply. “Rivals, I guess. Kind of friends.”  
“Rivals”, the other cop repeated. “And would you want any harm to come to Mr. Francesca?”  
“What?” Chipsa growled. “No. Dude, we’re playing a video game. Dafran can be a pain in the ass but he’s cool, man.” He was silent for a while, glaring at the two men. _Wankers_. “And anyway, today was the one day I wanted to play against him. He has a history of beating my ass in the game, and I wanted to prove myself on stage. Now I can’t, and he’s benched for God knows how long. So no, I had nothing to do with it.”  
Anger flowed through his veins. The cops looked at each other, but Chipsa could see it that they believed him. He settled down.  
“Thank you, Mr. Graham. We’ll be in touch.”  
“Yeah, sure. Whatever.”

****

The match between Philadelphia Fusion and Atlanta Reign was the final game of the day, and after a ninety minute long delay, it was finally launched. The mood of the crowd was down. The announcers tried to sound ecstatic, but Chipsa could tell that even they were feeling off. And the players… well, they all had played Overwatch while feeling bad at some point, so it wasn’t exactly stopping them from playing the game.  
But it sucked. Man, it sucked. Philly won, but it still sucked. Everything sucked.  
Chipsa had wanted to win against Dafran. He’d wanted to kick that fucker in the nuts. He’d wanted to emerge victorious from a game against _him_ , not Erster and Babybay. Fuck them. He wanted Dafran.  
Despite Chipsa’s frustration, he couldn’t help but to also feel sympathy towards Dafran. He was probably bummed out of his mind, and the wrist injury wasn’t going away anytime soon. He’d need surgery. He’d need to sit on the bench for God knows how long. Atlanta Reign might not even be playing in Stage Two.  
The congratulations he got from other players and the cheers of the fans brought him little comfort. When the announcers asked for an interview, he said no. He didn’t feel like it. He wasn’t up for it, not right now. Dafran’s situation was sitting heavily inside his head.  
 _Fuck_ , he wanted to hit something. Preferably that disgrace of a human being who’d caused this.

****

Twenty gamers sat around the waiting area, still wearing their respective team’s shirts. Philly and Atlanta had both agreed to go to the hospital to see how their fellow player would come out.  
The surgery had taken two hours, and he was still coming to from the effects of anesthesia. Masaa, Dogman and Sephy had been allowed to go in first. Ten minutes later Dogman had opened the door and gestured them all to enter. Chipsa saw he was wearing a small smile.  
The others eagerly went inside, but Chipsa hesitated when he entered.  
 _He doesn’t blame me. I don’t blame myself either. So why am I so afraid?_  
Chipsa shook his head and entered the room. It was stuffed full with the amount of players. Dafran was sitting up on his bed, wearing a white hospital gown, looking weary and tired, but still smiling at all the support he was getting.  
The two ‘Get Well Soon’ cards were resting on his table. More would surely be coming.  
“Does it hurt?” someone asked.  
“Not for now at least”, Dafran shrugged, showing off his casted hand. His movements were sluggish.  
“Dude, how many meds you on?” Chipsa raised a brow.  
“So many.”  
“This sucks ass”, Boombox chimed in.  
“Yeah”, Dafran sighed, leaning back on his bed. “Can we watch the game? Please? I want to see, c’mon.”  
“Oh yeah”, Sephy chuckled. “I can broadcast it from the screen. Come on, sit down, everyone.”  
The players obliged and sat down on the floor to watch.  
“No, no, Chipsa”, Dafran said suddenly. “C’mere. I heard you carried. You deserve a spot on the bed, come.” He was making space on the wide hospital bed. Chipsa chuckled at this and tried not to blush.  
What was he going to say, no? Ha. Chipsa climbed next to him, and Sephy got the broadcast working from his phone, connecting it to the hospital TV.  
“Alright, let’s see”, he murmured.  
For whatever reason Chipsa was very aware of the comforting warmth radiating from Dafran’s thin body as he leaned forward in anticipation, coffee-coloured eyes fixated on the screen.  
 _He’s so close._  
Their sides were touching. Chipsa could feel him breathing. It was comforting, for sure. Dafran was going to be okay. He’d get through this. Pushing his glasses higher on his nose, Chipsa focused on the game.  
“Actual god in human body, dude”, Dafran grinned after witnessing a particularly impressive frag play from Chipsa. It had won them the fight, and he was proud of it.  
After the match was over, Dafran congratulated Fusion’s players for their victory.  
“Nice job”, he commented with a smile. "And Chipsa, dude, you were so calm. Like, Masaa and Dogman probably remember that after my first OWL game my hands were shaking so bad I could barely get my water bottle open. You've got nerves of steel, man."  
Both teams laughed.  
“I think it’s time we head back, though. What are you going to do?” asked KDG, Philly’s head coach. “Are you staying?”  
Dafran blinked, looking down at his injured hand. “I’m not sure, yet. I’m not going to leave at least yet. They want to keep me here overnight, but I don’t think I’m like, going home or anything.”  
“You sure?” Chipsa asked, looking at his pale figure up and down.  
Dafran nodded at him. “Yeah. I can be Atlanta’s mascot”, he laughed.  
“Oh, and by the way”, said Syphe. “We’re going to have to make some sort of announcement to the viewers. People think Chipsa was somehow involved, and there’s just a general outrage going on. We should clear some things up.”  
“Yeah, man, look”, Chipsa swallowed, looking Dafran in the eye. “I would never do anything like that. I had nothing to do with this whatsoever, and I think it sucks ass that it happened in the first place.”  
“No, I know”, Dafran replied, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly with his healthy hand. “I know that. Don’t worry.”  
He sighed and gave them a tired smile. “Oh, and thanks for being here, guys. It’s amazing. You brought me chocolate and everything.”  
Dafran’s teammates patted him on the shoulder and wished him a quick recovery.  
“Hey, uh, Chipsa?” he asked, making Chipsa jump.  
“Yeah?”  
“You’re going to be at Philly’s house tomorrow, right? I’m thinking I should come over and we could make the announcement together. It would be good, people would see I'm not mad at you or anything.”  
Syphe and KDG exchanged glances.  
“Sure, if it’s okay with them”, Chipsa nodded towards the two coaches.  
“I think it’s fine”, KDG shrugged. “Just no scrimming during his visit, okay lads?”  
Philly’s players agreed.  
“Text me the address”, Syphe asked KDG, to which the Fusion’s coach replied with a nod. And with that, the two teams left the injured player’s room and walked down the hospital hall outside into the warm California night.


	2. Feeling something

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we go. Our wholesome journey continues. I had no idea someone actually reads this, but those who do, enjoy the ride lulw. Love the comments guys!  
> P.S. Don't mind my tags. Just let them be.

The Atlanta Reign van parked outside the beautiful house which belonged to the Philadelphia Fusion. The fact they were letting a whole different team enter their lair was questionable and unheard of, but the situation was also unusual. At first it was just supposed to be Dafran. Then Syphe was coming along, and somehow Masaa managed to pressure Syphe into asking KDG about him coming along - to which the rival coach had replied with a simple 'bring 'em all for all I care'. And that summed it up. ATL was getting a house tour, and Chipsa lead Dafran into his room.

"Nice, dude", commented Dafran as he entered. His room was almost suspiciously clean and well-kept, and there was a comfy chair for him behind the gaming chair which belonged to Chipsa. The man in question sat down with a sigh. 

"Okay, fair warning", Chipsa began. "Everyone's speculating a _lot._ Your viewers are super worried, by the way, and OWL hasn't made an official announcement yet."

"Yeah, everyone's freaked out", Dafran sighed. "It's okay. We'll tell them what's up."

Chipsa had the 'stream starting soon' logo on his screen, and the Twitch chat was already running _wild._ His stream title was "Answering questions feat. Dafran". 

"Oh, boy, they're excited", Dafran chuckled, bringing his casted hand closer to his chest. It ached, but not too badly with all the pain meds he was taking. 

"Ready?" Chipsa raised his brows, anxiously looking over a him. His concern warned Dafran's heart in a strange way. 

"Ready."

Chipsa started the stream. The chat _exploded_. The viewer count was already in the three-thousands, and rising. 

"Daaamn", he laughed. "Hey, look, I'm not dead. Look, look, they gave me a cast. It's fine."

The two streamers couldn't help but to grin at the overwhelming response. Somebody donated five bucks and said:

_"Man its good to see you Dafran."_

The Danish man waved to the camera with his healthy hand. "Hello."

"Okay, chat", Chipsa murmured, adjusting his position on the chair. "We can do a little Q&A thingy here."

"What is the most _burning_ question?" Dafran raised a brow and leaned closer, trying to reach the Twitch chat. 

"Yeah, dude, I'm okay. My wrist is broken, dude. Like badly. The bone was like, popping out. The doctors put it back and I got a ton of stitches."

Dafran showed off his cast to the camera. "They gave me really strong painkillers, too."

"I think they want to know when you'll be able to play again", Chipsa sighed, his eyes flicking over to Dafran. 

Sadness filled Dafran as he had to shake his head and disappoint every single viewer who was excited to see him play. "I can't play for like two months at least. I'm on the bench. It takes so long for this shit to heal. I'm going to miss all the stuff. And I’m not gonna like, pretend it doesn’t suck.” He was silent for a while, but fought through the suffocating wave of depression and gave the viewers a smile. “But, you know me. I’m a PMA god. I’ll be fine.”

"Yeah but it’s so fucking wrong", Chipsa added. "Like, I know you guys have heard about that degenerate karate kid being a fan of mine and a supporter of Fusion, but me and the team had _nothing_ to do with this thing. That guy was a lunatic and he's going to prison."

"Yeah, don't like, harass Chipsa about it either", Dafran chimed in. "It's not his fault, alright? We both wanted to play against each other, but that guy took that possibility away. Now we can't." 

The chat was filled with teary-eyed emotes. 

"Yeah, dude. I'm the mascot now", said Dafran. 

"Hey, you should get your cast, like, signed by everyone."

"Oo, you're right. Got a marker?"

Chipsa frowned and started frantically opening his desk drawers. 

"I could swear there was… oh yeah, found it. Here."

"No, no, I don't want it dude", Dafran grinned, reaching his hand towards him. "You need to sign it. I want your autograph, Chipsa."

"Aight, I've got this", Chipsa smiled, grabbing Dafran's casted hand _very_ carefully. He took the marker and started carving his name with noticeably big letters on the white cast. 

Chipsa drew a little lopsided heart behind his name. 

"Aaaw", Dafran laughed. "Look, chat. Chipsa drew me a heart."

The chat's reaction was to be expected, spamming heart emotes and pogchamps. 

"Wait, I need to get everyone else to sign it, too. Hey!" Dafran leaned back on his chair and yelled into the corridor. "Guys, come sign my cast!"

Took a while, but soon enough Masaa, Dogman and Erster showed. They happily obliged to signing their names next to Chipsa's, and it didn't take long for the room to be swarming with OWL players all who wanted to sign. They said hi to the stream, and in the next five minutes Chipa's stream had 10,000 viewers. 

“Someone made a compilation of streamers reacting to Dafran’s injury”, said Poko with his thick French accent. “Go check it, they’re being very supportive.”

Dafran raised his brows, glancing at the chat while his casted hand was still being signed by five of his fellow players. 

“What do you think, chat, should we do it?”

The response was an overwhelmingly positive spam of YES, so Chipsa quickly searched up the video from YouTube.

“Alright, let’s see”, Chipsa murmured. “You don’t have PTSD from it do you Dafran?”

Dafran had seen the video footage of him being attacked once before, last night. Seeing it from an outsider’s eyes looked actually quite frightening, the way his hand suddenly twisted to an unnatural angle and he fell to his knees - but it didn’t make him have a panic attack or anything.

“Dude, no. Just play the video”, he informed. 

It had hurt really bad, but if Dafran was being quite honest his brains had been filling with so much adrenaline the pain had faded quite quickly - or at least just been at the background as his head’s functions got hazy. Dafran remembered his vision becoming blurry, and a flash of pain so sharp he’d let out a yelp as the man had grabbed his hand with his other hand and pushed the broken out of place and through his skin. The guy had been _so_ strong - his muscular arms had been so clearly visible - and the grip he’d had on Dafran’s wrist was deadly. As he’d sunk to his knees and the man had eventually let go, he remembered Masaa and Dogman grabbing him by the shoulders as he cradled his bleeding hand. Dafran had just stared at the disfigured form of his hand and watched with fascination as blood pumped out of the open wound. He’d only had a few seconds to inspect the bone popping out through his skin, when the pain began registering again. Squeezing his hand, right above the fracture, Dogman, Masaa, Soe and Bren quickly lead him to the ER tent - the trip there was such a haze he wasn’t sure if he’d even been fully conscious during it. 

Watching the situation occur from the eyes of an outsider was truly surreal. Witnessing it happen again and again throughout the video made him a tad uncomfortable. 

“What did we just witness?” Sideshow asked out loud the question in the background as he’d been one of the confused announcers trying to see what was going on. “It seems Dafran has been attacked, oh my, I hope it’s not as serious as it looked…”

The crowd’s outrage was terrifying. Dafran saw the worry and the fear in all of the people’s eyes. Some were crying. It hurt his heart, but also warmed him in the inside - these people really cared about him. 

The first streamer to react to it was xQc. The Canadian streamer famous for his rage, rapid speech and extremely good main tank skills, was quiet for once as he witnessed the occurance on his screen. As the camera focused on the man who had Dafran’s now broken hand in a tight grip, xQc’s mouth opened. 

“ _Dude,_ _what?”_ he yelled. “ _That is fucked up. Look, chat, it’s broken! His hand fucking broke, dude. That is messed up. He’s not gonna be able to play, man. Damn.”_

The frame flicked over to Kabaji. He’d been watching it live, and his reaction was equally shocked as xQc’s.

“ _Oh my God, what’s happening? Yo, dude, Dafran’s being grabbed. Oh, Jesus”,_ Kabaji was silent for a while, witnessing the scene unfold. _“Is it broken? Oh my God, dude. It's broken."_

Next up was Jayne, who had also been streaming the Overwatch League tournament and no doubt eager to analyse Chipsa’s gameplay. 

“ _What?”_ he’d mumbled at first, then just watched in stunned silence at the screen. “ _Oh. My. God. What is happening, why is no one doing anything?”_

“Yo, dude, the security guys came as fast as they could, okay”, Dafran chimed in, adjusting his position on the chair. “And some of the crowd, look see? They’re helping me”, he pointed out.

“Yeah, kudos for those people”, said Chipsa, focused on the video. “Actual heroes.”

Harbleu’s stream popped up. _“What’s he doing? WOAH. Did that guy just break Dafran’s hand? The fuck?”_ Harbleu, who seemed to have a chronic happy-face syndrome, was looking more upset than anyone had ever seen him. 

“ _Dude, that’s so bad… like, that sucks. Just sucks. I'm really sorry for him."_

The video repeated itself, showing the shocked reactions of Tim, Emongg, Jay3, Kragie, Samito, Fran, Muma, ML7. They all shared their sympathies. 

Dafran glanced quickly at Chipsa, whose blue eyes were focused and serious behind his glasses. His face looked softer in the blue light than it normally would, his features more relaxed than what Dafran was used to seeing. 

Thinking about this he turned his eyes away and fought hard not to blush. 

_Why did I look at him like that?_

****

After a while, someone gifted Chipsa twenty bucks and suggested they play a board game instead of a video game, since Dafran was unable to participate. 

Boombox found Monopoly from one of the closets, and a group of four - Dafran, Chipsa, Masaa and Boombox himself - was quickly formed. 

It had been literal years since Chipsa had played this stupid game - or any board game for that matter. The camera from the top of his screen had been moved to an alternative location so that his stream could witness what was happening. 

"Ooh, we used to play this game with my friends when we were little", Dafran said dreamily. "Sometimes we got so mad at each other we didn't talk for weeks."

"Yeah, same here", Masaa grinned. "Been there, done that."

Chipsa frowned at the game pieces. Dafran quickly grabbed the one that was shaped like a hamburger. 

"Chipsa, you can be a shoe", suggested Dafran, pointing at the metal piece shaped like a boot. Chipsa rolled his eyes. "Please, I'm not a shoe. I'm obviously a tophat", he countered. 

"Are you though?" Dafran sneered. 

"Fuck off", Chipsa grabbed the game piece of his choosing. "I'm the tophat." 

The game started after about twenty more seconds of friendly banter. Dafran adjusted his position on the floor and moved closer to Chipsa. 

Why did his heart flutter just then? The British streamer frowned, glancing carefully at his so called rival. 

Chipsa was aware of the fact he was sort of staring. He hadn't really noticed it before but Dafran's laugh - however retarded it may have sounded before - now felt _good_ to his ears; and he would never admit it out loud, but he thought that Dafran's smile and the way it would light up his whole face all the way up to his eyes was kind of nice. 

****

It took them four hours to finish. 

Four. Hours. And in the end the winner was Masaa. 

By the end if it Dafran and Chipsa had answered to every question that had been asked of them and they were both so tired that Chipsa ended the stream. 

Atlanta's players were leaving - both teams needed to get back to scrimming. Atlanta had taken a bad hit with Dafran's injury, and Chipsa couldn't have been sorrier for them, and Dafran himself. 

It just sucked ass in all aspects. 

For some reason Chipsa didn't like the fact that Dafran was leaving. He'd really enjoyed his fellow streamer's visit, and Chipsa's chest tightened as he watched him leave. 

Fusion's DPS player cleared his throat. "Feel better, Dafran."

"Thanks", he replied, flashing Chipsa a tired smile. 

How in the name of fuck did he still have the energy to smile? Chipsa could only imagine the inner turmoil of not being able to only not play with his team, but to not being able to play almost anything for two months. 

That's when KDG slammed his hands together with a clap. "Okay, boys. Let's get back to work. Computers, now."

Chipsa tried to shake Dafran off of his mind and to just focus on being Philly's DPS. 

****

After a long day Chipsa finally lay down on his bed, digging out his phone and clicking on the YouTube icon. 

His eyes raked over all the recommendations - half of them had something to do with Dafran's injury.

Chipsa didn't feel like watching any more of that. Instead, he searched for Dafran's channel and began going through his videos. 

He missed Dafran. Why? He didn't really want to think about the why. Chipsa missed him and he wanted to hear his voice. 

_Don’t think about it. Just don’t. Just watch a few videos._

Chipsa scrolled down his channel, eventually landing to the clips from the last OWL season. His eyes widened as he stumbled upon a video he hadn’t seen before, and didn’t even know such a thing had happened - it was a Torbjörn 1v1 between Dafran and Mangachu - it took place in the OWL stage and it had casters in the background and a crowd watching and everything. Interested, Chipsa started watching. The video picked off immediately to Dafran’s arrival on stage.

Damn he looked good. Thin, lean form, a sunny smile, fresh haircut. He looked ecstatic to be there. 

_Bless him, jeez._

Some of the crowd members were bowing before him, and it made Chipsa snort. Dafran truly was worshipped by the fans. He swallowed, and kept watching. The game started shortly after Dafran BM’d Mangachu by playfully calling him washed up. 

Chipsa found himself laughing at the absolute fun that Dafran was obviously having. He was laughing and smiling throughout the entire match. He was having the time of his life, and that, to Chipsa, was the most attractive look he’d ever seen on a person. Just enjoying himself. 

In the end, after the (tight) battle was settled to Mangachu’s victory, the two players hugged as a sign of good sportsmanship. Dafran was a lot shorter than his opponent, which made it even funnier. 

_I wonder what it would feel like. To be hugged by him._

At this point Chipsa just shook his head and frowned at himself. What was he even thinking? Why was he fantasizing about being hugged by Dafran?

Having his long, lean arms wrapped around his body…

Chipsa swallowed, looking for more content to sink his teeth into. 

_I wonder what he’s doing right now._

****

The Chipsa videos found on YouTube were mostly rage montages, and they weren’t what Dafran was interested in the moment. He just wanted to hear Chipsa’s heavy British accent talking about _anything._ Just hearing his voice was enough for Dafran.

He’d felt sad immediately after they’d left Philly’s team house. He’d really enjoyed the time with their opposing team, but somehow spending time with Chipsa was feeling way better than it should. Their back and forth banter, which had been going on for as long as they’d known each other, was still there - but Dafran had noticed that Chipsa was softer. He was a lot softer. Dafran knew it was because he’d been injured, and to some extent, somewhere deep down, Chipsa probably felt like he was somehow the cause of it. 

Dafran watched a video of Chipsa reacting to the initial drama and backlash that followed him after he got signed to Philadelphia Fusion - watching him move, talk, tell his thoughts - it just made Dafran feel something deep down. Something warm in his chest. It made him forget the horrible reality which was that now he wouldn’t be playing in the League.

He’d made his return to OWL with a suspicious mind, but he’d been _ready._ At the end of the day, he couldn’t have been more excited to play on stage again - then it had all been taken away from him in a manner of seconds. 

Thinking about it made his heart clench. Dafran sighed, just focusing on watching Chipsa again.

_What a pepega,_ he thought when he watched his fellow streamer meme around the subject. He really should do something with Chipsa. Maybe he could cast plat games again, and he could ask Chipsa to join him. It would be amazing. Dafran chuckled at the thought, closings his eyes while laying down on his bed. 

He’d get through this. His hand was feeling better already. He just had to get through these next two months and he’d be back at it. Atlanta Reign could make it without him for two months. He’d make it back into the action halfway through the season. 

Dafran tried not to think about physical therapy, which was most likely a part of his future once the bone healed. The doctors had assured him that there was no nerve damage, but stiffness and pain was likely to follow the injury even after it healed. 

Sighing, he prodded at the cast that was no signed by his teammates. Dafran turned his hand over and ran his thumb over Chipsa’s name. His finger stopped over the heart shape that the British streamer had drawn. Smiling, he tugged the injured hand close to his chest and fell asleep almost instantly.


	3. Something's wrong

Three days had passed since Dafran's injury. He was feeling much better overall, and was enjoying the spectator mode much more than he thought he would. 

Chipsa had played like a god today against Florida Mayhem. Dafran was proud of him. Atlanta had won against Dallas Fuel, which had made him ecstatic. It had been a good couple of days. 

****

There would be three whole hours before the next match began, so the casters had arranged a little light entertainment for the crowd. Sayaplayer and Linkzr were supposed to have a 1v1, but to the crowd's disappointment, Linkzr had retreated because he was feeling terribly ill. So the casters were at a loss. 

They had to figure out something else to entertain the people with. 

It was Soe's idea. She figured out the perfect way to have Dafran play on stage  _ with  _ Chipsa, just as everyone had wanted. 

Bren and Sideshow went to talk to Chipsa, when Soe went to find Dafran. 

He was sitting with his teammates in Atlanta Reign's room. 

****

"May I borrow Dafran, please?" came Soe's voice from the door. 

The streamer lifted his head up upon hearing his name. "Sure", he replied, getting up with curiosity and followed Soe into the hallway. 

"So", the woman began, excited. "How would you feel about playing on the stage in about… thirty minutes?"

Dafran stared at her for two seconds, and blinked slowly. 

"I'm not sure I follow", he told her.

"The people want to see you and Chipsa on stage together. So we were wondering if you used your left hand to do the keyboard, and he would use the mouse."

Dafran burst out a chuckle. The idea was hilarious, but he liked it. Plus, it would buy him some extra time to have fun with Chipsa. 

"I'm listening."

Soe grinned at him. "So, basically, we have a level 25 unranked account for you guys to play on. You would play five games on the DPS role and there would be a crowd spectating. In the end we will see where you place."

Dafran laughed again. It was hilarious. 

"I mean, if he says yes, then sure. It could be fun."

"This is so stupid", Chipsa announced immediately when he was brought to the Atlanta Reign's room. By now everyone else was done talking about the game, and the entire team had been heading home when they heard what Dafran and Chipsa were about to do. 

Suddenly everyone wanted to stay and watch. 

Dafran chuckled at Chipsa. "What do you mean? This is gonna be pog."

"This is  _ the  _ stupidest thing I have ever done in my life", Chipsa repeated himself, narrowing his eyes. "Let's give it a go, I guess."

The two player had both agreed that they'd need to practice just a wee bit before going to stage. 

"You've got fifteen minutes", Sideshow told them. "We're gonna go hype the crowd up for you guys."

Chipsa gave Dafran and anxious look, and the benched player grinned in response, making room on the couch that they had dragged in front of Dafran's computer. 

Atlanta Reign's members had gathered around the two, laughing among themselves, eager to witness this ridiculousness. 

Sighing, Chipsa grabbed the mouse. "So I'm not allowed to touch the keyboard?"

"Nope", Dafran smiled, laughing. "It's mine."

"Okay, this will be interesting", stated Syphe. 

The account that Soe had given to them was a level 25 unranked account that she had quickly renamed as 'Chipsafran'. 

"Oh", Chipsa whispered. "My god."

"Chipsafran, dude", Dafran burst out laughing, the rest of his team not far behind, giggling at the discovery. 

"Okay, okay", Chipsa adjusted his position on the couch. "Get it together. We're gonna destroy them, okay?"

"Oh, yeah?" Dafran raised his brows. They entered practice range. 

"Who do you want to play?" he asked from the British streamer. 

"Uhh… I don't know, man. Maybe Reaper?"

"Good idea, that'll destroy golds", Dafran agreed. "We're gonna pop off."

Chipsa picked the hero and they entered the practice range. Dafran began pressing W. 

"Okay", Chipsa said after a while of them practicing moving together. "This is hard, but doable."

"You guys ready?" Soe's voice came from the door. "We've got everything set up. Chipsa's mouse is there. Everyone's really excited."

Chipsa looked Dafran in the eye, and it made him  _ feel  _ something, deep inside. To have Chipsa's attention entirely directed towards him… it was an exhilarating feeling. 

"Ready?" He asked, voice so soft it was like butter. 

"Let's pop off", Dafran swallowed, and together the two followed Soe out, towards the main stage. 

****

The crowd could be heard from far away. They were screaming with excitement. 

"Hear that?" asked Soe, winking at them. 

"Yep", Chipsa couldn't help but smile. 

Soe opened the door, and the people's voices, as loud as they had been, became at least five times louder. 

"Woah", Dafran's jaw dropped at the sight. 

_ So many people!  _ Chipsa stared. 

It was almost like a proper match instead of small entertainment in between games. 

He swallowed, watching Dafran as he greeted the crowd with his usual happy demeanor. Chipsa touched the reaching hands, and noticed that Dafran did it too with his healthy hand. 

_ No hard feelings, eh?  _ He thought.  _ Interesting.  _ Chipsa would have figured that Dafran would be scared to let people touch him after what had happened the last time, but there was truly not a worry in the world on the man's face. No, he looked  _ jubilous.  _ He looked… beautiful. 

Chipsa cleared his throat, making his way to the setup that had been made for them. There was a couch for them. 

He sighed, sitting down on the right end while Dafran sat on the left and moved the keyboard to an approproate angle. 

"Oh, boy", he said, hitting the queue for DPS button. 

During the queue the casters entertained the crowd by interviewing KDG.

Chipsa took out his phone and got up on his chair as they waited. He turned his back towards the people, and touched Dafran's arm.

"Get in here."

The older streamer grinned at him and got up. He smiled at the camera, and Chipsa snapped one photo. Then he clicked the video button, slowly showing the entire crowd behind him. Dafran waved and smiled, happiness blooming within. It was unbelievable to stand there on stage, watched by hundreds of thousands of people. 

The two sat down, and Chipsa sighed. “Let’s go Deathmatch”, he said. “We can practice.”

“Good call”, Dafran grinned. His partner clicked on the Deathmatch icon and they entered the game.

It was the most fun Dafran had had in a very long time. The crowd was also not in the least bit tired of watching them play in a normal competitive game - not when the game setting was what it was. Their banter was starting to reach levels of mild toxicity, but it was hilariously fun all the same. Dafran’s facial muscles ached from smiling so much. 

They placed at 3529.

****

Two days after Chipsa and Dafran’s little tournament, it was time for Philly’s match against New York Excelsior. Everyone expected Philly to lose hard, for a good reason - NYXL was one of the toughest teams out there. 

Since Dafran couldn’t play, he didn’t need to practice. Since his hand was indisposed, he couldn’t properly stream either. In conclusion, he had all the time in the world to go and watch when the different teams played. Being in Overwatch League granted him the privilege of always having a seat available. 

Plus, he really wanted to see Chipsa play. He really wanted to see Chipsa, period. Dafran had no problem admitting to himself that he enjoyed the other man’s company a lot more than was healthy to a bro-relationship. His sexuality had always swung both ways, and it had never bothered him. 

It did make things difficult, though. Chipsa was extremely straight, a point which he desperately felt like he needed to constantly prove, which Dafran found quite funny. 

It was okay. Dafran had gotten used to having crushes on people who he could never be together with. 

The game was about to begin. Dafran saw the camera get closer, and he raised his cardboard sign which said ‘Chipsa is a nerd’. The video feed locked on him, displaying his face on the big screen on the stage. Dafran grinned, swinging his sign. He saw Chipsa facepalm on stage. 

The announcers started babbling away and Dafran sat back, relaxed, and prepared to enjoy the game.

It was a tough one, despite all the speculations. Philly and NYXL had a very even match, which took them to the fifth round. In the end, however, the winner was none other than Philadelphia Fusion. Dafran had never seen Chipsa so happy, and it brought a smile to his face to watch him beam. 

“You go, Chipsa”, he grinned. “You go.”

After the match Dafran went to the backstage. It was an endless mess of corridors, with all the teams having their own room and a common room as extra. Dafran caught a glimpse of Philly disappearing to their own room, and sat down on the couch. 

He felt dizzy. He couldn’t be happier for Philly’s victory, it really made him happy to see Chipsa have success in OWL. It had been a meme at first, but now it seemed that the infamous Doomfist onetrick truly deserved his spot on the roster. 

Dafran walked to the serving table which held a pile of white plastic cups. He took one and filled it at the water tank which lay beside the table. He then returned to his spot on the couch, knowing that both Philly and NYXL would most likely join him eventually. He sent Chipsa a text letting him know that he’d be in the lounge. Dafran was eager to talk about the game he’d just watched, and he knew that both team’s coached were talking to their players eagerly for at least another half an hour. 

Dafran made himself comfortable, laying down on the couch. It soothed his pounding head. He grabbed the nearby blanket to wrap around himself - it was probably the aggressive air conditioning in this facility that made him shiver. Only then did Dafran notice how very  _ tired  _ he was - it was strange, considering how much he slept. He slept all the time. 

Dafran didn’t give it much thought, and surrendered to the sweet abyss. 

****

Chipsa’s heart missed a beat every time he saw Dafran send him a text. He opened it as quickly as humanly possible. 

_ ‘Im in the lounge. Join if u wanna’. _

Chipsa smiled enthusiastically. Dafran made him feel strangely warm all over his body. Gave him a good feeling. After weeks of careful self reflection, Chipsa had eventually come to the conclusion that he was  _ not  _ into men. At least not generally. He never looked at other guys that way, he’d always been very much into girls.

But Dafran.  _ Why  _ was he different? Why the fuck was Dafran the only person in the world who made him as gay as they come?

Chipsa was adamant to find out. He excused himself from Philly’s room and headed towards the lounge. A few other players were there - JinMu and Ameng from Chengdu Hunters - although they disappeared somewhere within ten second - and Super, Sinatraa and Rascal from San Francisco Shock. They were all getting something to drink from the soda automat, and were joking around benevolently. After winning a game against Paris Eternal earlier that day they were on a good mood.

As Chipsa entered, they all cheered at him. “Chipsa, hey! Nicely played, man”, said Super. Sinatraa agreed with him and gave Chipsa a genuine smile. 

“Thanks guys, but, uhh, anyone seen Dafran? He told me he’d be here.”

Super chuckled. “He’s right there”, he pointed towards the couch which was nearest to Chipsa. 

Walking closer and peeking behind the back rest, indeed he saw the very much sleeping form of Atlanta’s DPS player. He was wrapped in a blanket and was sleeping with the most adorable facial expression in the whole wide world. 

Chipsa almost blushed just seeing it. 

He leaned back, nodding at the three Shock players. 

“Hey, Dafran”, he said softly and poked at his arm. There was no reaction. 

“Dafraaaan”, Super joined him, his voice not so soft but instead loud and obnoxious. 

Chipsa sighed, shaking him properly this time. Again, there was no reaction. A small seed of worry began to grow inside him, and he swallowed nervously. 

“Hey, Dafran”, he said louder, continuing to shake him. “Wake up.”

His eyelids didn’t stir, but his head lolled to the other side. 

“The fuck?” murmured Sinatraa, walking closer with Super and Rascal right behind him. Chipsa saw his own worry reflected in their faces.

“Dafran, wake up”, Sinatraa urged, grabbing his shoulder. He frowned, gently placing a hand on the sleeping man’s forehead. 

“Oh, boy”, he muttered. “He’s burning up. That’s a very high fever.”

“Shit”, Super spat. Chipsa wasn’t listening anymore, but instead dialed 911. 

A female operator answered from the other end. “ _ 911, what is your emergency _ ?”

“Hi, yeah, we’re at the Blizzard Arena. I have a friend who’s not waking up, and he seems to be feverish.”

“ _ Alright. What is your name?” _

__ “Philip Graham.”

“ _ And what is your friend’s name?” _

__ “Daniel Francesca.”

“ _ How old is he?” _

__ “He’s twenty-six. Look, he was injured two weeks ago and he broke his wrist. An open fracture. Do you think it could be infected or something?”

“ _ That is a possibility. There’s an ambulance on the way. What is your exact location?” _

__ “We’re at the backstage lounge”, Chipsa explained, going on to explain exact directions on how to get there.

Sinatraa, Super and Rascal followed the interaction silently, casting worried glances towards Dafran’s resting figure.

“ _ Could you tell me if his injured hand looks normal, if it’s bleeding for example?” _

__ Chipsa swallowed, carefully pulling up the blanket wrapped around his friend, and revealing his casted hand resting against his chest.

“The cast looks normal. I don’t see any blood.”

“ _ Alright. Is he breathing normally? Does it seem slow, fast, laboured?” _

__ Chipsa watched the steady rise and fall of Dafran’s chest. “It’s quite slow. But that’s normal when you’re sleeping, right?”

“ _ It’s probably fine. Do you know what he was doing before he lost consciousness?” _

__ “He’s lying on a couch with a blanket, I think he was just sleeping”, Chipsa explained, ignoring the terrible ball of worry growing inside his belly every. His hands were covered in cold sweat so badly that he could barely hold onto the phone. 

The operator stayed with him on the phone until help arrived, and Dafran was taken into the ambulance. They left Chipsa and the others standing in the lounge, with a handful of others who had arrived on scene to look at the commotion. 

Fear was clenching his heart like a pair of icy claws. Chipsa didn’t know what to do. 

_ Please be okay, Dafran. Please. _


End file.
